updated: alberta candidate nomination updates – june 2011.

The summer months are here and while the Progressive Conservatives and Liberals are preoccupied with choosing new leaders, the Wildrose Alliance are focusing on nominating a swath of candidates across the province. Here are some updates to the list of candidate nominations happening across Alberta:

Calgary-Bow: Tim Dyck and John Hilton-O’Brien are vying for the Wildrose Alliance nomination. Mr. Hilton-O’Brien was the Alberta Alliance candidate in Grande Prairie-Wapiti in the 2004 election. PC MLA Alana DeLong has been nominated as her party’s candidate.

Former separatist leader Cory Morgan is a Wildrose Alliance nomination candidate in Calgary-Klein.

Calgary-Klein: Recent Aldermanic candidate Jeremy Nixon and former Alberta separatist leader Cory Morgan are seeking the Wildrose Alliance nomination scheduled for June 29. This will be Mr. Morgan’s fourth attempt at provincial elected office, having run as a candidate for the Alberta Independence Party in Banff-Cochrane in 2001, the Separation Party of Alberta in Highwood in 2004, and the Wildrose Alliance in Calgary-Mountain View in 2008.

Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill: The host of the popular CHQR radio show Calgary TodayMike Blanchard and Roy Alexander are seeking the Wildrose Alliance nomination in this constituency at a June 13 meeting.

Calgary-Northern Hills: Prasad Panda was nominated as the Wildrose Alliance candidate on May 27, 2011. Mr. Panda replaces previously nominated candidate Harpreet Nijjar, who withdrew from the nomination earlier this year. Calgary-Mackay PC MLA Teresa Woo-Paw has been nominated as her party’s candidate.

Edmonton-Decore: The Wildrose Alliance has nominated lawyer Chris Bataluk as their candidate.

Edmonton-Glenora: Former Alberta Party acting-leader Sue Huff is expected to be acclaimed as her party’s candidate in this constituency. PC MLA Heather Klimchuk has been nominated as her party’s candidate.

Catholic School Trustee Cindy Olsen is considering a run for NDP in Edmonton-Manning, according to unnamed source.

Edmonton-Manning: According to an unnamed source, Edmonton Catholic School District Trustee Cindy Olsen is strongly considering seeking the NDP nomination in this constituency, which is one of five in the province where the NDP candidate placed second in 2008. (UPDATE: Ms. Olsen announced this morning that she will seek the NDP nomination in Edmonton-Manning. See media release and confirmation from Edmonton-Strathcona NDP MLA Rachel Notley in the comments below) Already seeking the nomination is Mike Scott, who was the Edmonton-Sherwood Park NDP candidate in the recent federal election (and is also formerly known as Mike Koala on 100.3 FM The Bear). The NDP has scheduled their nomination meeting for June 27.

Edmonton-Whitemud: Rick Newcombe and Ian Crawford are seeking the Wildrose Alliance nomination. Although this will be Mr. Crawford’s first time seeking a Wildrose nomination, he has run unsuccessfully for City Council numerous times since 1992, for the Reform Party nomination in Edmonton-Strathcona in 1993, for the PC nominations in Edmonton-Rutherford and Edmonton-Ellerslie in 1993, for the Canadian Alliance in Edmonton-Southeast nomination in 2000, and for the PC nomination in Edmonton-Meadowlark in 2007 against Raj Sherman and Debbie Cavaliere. PC MLA Dave Hancock has been nominated as his party’s candidate.

Innisfail-Sylvan Lake: Developer Rod English and real estate broker Kerry Towle are seeking the Wildrose Alliance nomination, which is scheduled to happen on June 16.

Rocky Mountain House-Sundre: The Rimbey Review is reporting that Rocky Mountain House Town Councillor Sheila Mizera and Rimbey Town Councillor Joe Anglinare seeking the Wildrose Alliance nomination. Mr. Anglin is well-known as a vocal advocate for landowners rights and earned 23% of the vote as the 2008 Green Party candidate in Lacombe-Ponoka. He served briefly as the Leader of the Alberta Green Party until it was dissolved in 2009.

UPDATE: I have received an email from Mr. Anglin in in regards to the news he is seeking the Wildrose Alliance nomination: “I have been fishing in the Yukon for the last two weeks. Just returned today. This is news to me. I have not made any such announcement.”

Whitecourt-Ste. Anne: Whitecourt Town Councillor Maryann Chichakwas announced as her party’s candidate on May 20. PC MLA George VanderBurg has been nominated as his party’s candidate.

Am I missing anyone? Post a comment below or send me an email at david.cournoyer@gmail.com.

I have a late addition for Edmonton-Ellerslie. Former Liberal MLA Bharat Agnihotri has been nominated as his parrty’s candidate. Mr. Agnohotri served as MLA from 2004 until 2008. PC MLA Naresh Bhardwaj has also been nominated as his party’s candidate.

The Wildrose Alliance is drawing a pretty broad range of candidates, some qualified and some questionable. I would be very concerned if a party like them, now so close to government, openly embraced separatists in their ranks.

Joe Anglin sure has an appropriate name; he used to travel with the NDP and then the Green party and now he’s Wild Rose?!? He’s definitely looking for any “Angle-In”.

Bad jokes aside, this guy is nothing but an opportunist looking to punch his ticket to Legislature. Obviously he doesn’t know what he actually stands for, so the people of Rocky Mountain House can expect a dodgy career politician if they elect Joe.

As for Cindy Olsen in Edmonton Manning, in addition to your “un-named source” I can confirm that Cindy is definately seeking the nomination in Edmonton Manning and that I announced that fact at the education rally at the legislature a couple of Sundays ago.

Edmonton Catholic School Trustee Cindy Olsen declared today her intention to seek the nomination in Edmonton Manning for the Alberta NDP for the next Provincial Election.

“I’m excited to formally announce my intent to seek the nomination” Olsen says. “Recent announcements of teacher layoffs and underfunding for education are a perfect example of why I have decided to run to become a New Democrat MLA.”

A Trustee since 2007 for her Northeast Edmonton ward, Olsen knows the issues facing families in Edmonton Manning. She has served as Board Chair and on numerous committees and tasks forces during her two terms as Trustee.

“Education is just another example of how the Tories are failing our Province.” states Olsen. “The government has announced money for new school buildings, but this raises the question of how we can staff them and provide programs needed with the financial cutbacks Boards have been handed. New money for new schools also does not address the accumulated infrastructure deficit in maintaining the schools we already have. I am seeking the nomination as a New Democrat because Alberta’s NDP has a clear vision, strong and committed leadership and offers practical solutions to fix the problems the Tories have created. “

The Edmonton-Manning NDP Constituency Association has stated it will hold its nomination meeting on June 27th.

“…Obviously he doesn’t know what he actually stands for, so the people of Rocky Mountain House can expect a dodgy career politician if they elect Joe.…” I think one of the prerequisites to be labelled a “career politician” is to be repeatedly elected; Mr. Anglin is clearly more of a “career candidate” or “career aspiring politician” 😉

On July 14 at the Wildrose Alliance forum in Hoadley Joe Anglin dropped the comment;I don’t fellow lawyers I lead lawyers. In my opinion this comment demonstrates nothing more then arrogance. Making such a statement seems to put the lawyer who fought for a change in landowner rights legislation in an unimportant and inferior position. I believe Mr. Keith Wilson put in a tremendous amount of work in fighting the three pieces of legislation and should be commended and not relegated to a secondary status.
When a politician or would be politician displays arrogance you can bet they have no intentions of listening to the grass roots. We are already dealing with much conceit and egotism from the present government in Edmonton. This begs the question, will the Wildrose Alliance actually be any different from the Progressive Conservatives?
It’s too bad that Joe doesn’t realize that a little humility would go a long way to garner support in the upcoming Wildrose nomination race.

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In addition, my thoughts and opinions change from time to time. I consider this a necessary consequence of having an open mind. This blog is intended to provide a semi-permanent point in time snapshot and manifestation of the various ideas running around my brain, and as such any thoughts and opinions expressed within out-of-date posts may not the same, nor even similar, to those I may hold today.